NOFX

So I picked this up awhile back and just a month or so ago got around to putting it in my car.

GE-7406 EQ + Gathers GXC-7448 tape deck

I've since added an iPod cable which plugs into the CD changer port on the back of the deck. That was done several weeks ago.

Anyway, I've been having this issue since about two minutes after we installed it and it seems like in the last week or so it's inexplicably become a more common occurrence. The previous owner reports it worked fine when he had it (as per his posts; I haven't talked to him about it).

All the text and the equalizer will flash and the speakers will crack on and off. The error on the deck reads "DA" and it flashes as everything else does.

Attachment 539776

Crossposted from Audio / Security / Video since I figure this radio was pulled from a 5G Civic coupe and there's a lot of Gathers fans on here. Appreciate any help!

fungus mungus

Being the person that sold it to you, I'll go ahead and respond. I've seen the DA error before on a different setup, but I'm not sure what it means. When I saw it, it only happened when I was using the EQ/CD port.

I suspect it means there's a bad connection somewhere. Did you check your cable connections to be sure all cable connections are completely secured? I'd specifically check the little green plug that goes from the EQ to the head unit and make sure that connection is secure. If it is secure, you might want to get a multimeter and make sure the wires in the harness are OK and that there isn't a faulty one.

If it does this intermittently, I imagine a wire is getting jostled around and is losing contact, causing this crackling and loss of sound. Another thing you can do is disconnect the EQ, removing it from the equation. I suspect it will be fine if you do this, which would then point to the harness.

fm

fungus mungus

I looked in the Gathers manual I have and it makes no mention of the "DA" error. This particular Gathers deck was a Kenwood deck, and yours is made by Alpine, so that doesn't surprise me. Bummer.

fm

NOFX

Update:

The deck has started to, on occasion, flash EEEEE once and then turn off. It always turns off after that code though. If I turn it back on it turns off after 2-3 seconds.

Former User

If you were lucky, its a bad connector pin or bad wire, rather than a bad unit itself. Have you pulled out the multimeter and done some testing, especially now that the problem is more frequent?

NOFX

Haven't checked it yet. Pretty sure I need to pick up another multimeter as a friend I used to have broke mine with one use.

fungus mungus

Have you tried disconnecting the CD/EQ and just running the radio for awhile? I'm almost certain the head unit is fine. It's probably the cabling between the head unit and the CD/EQ. I have an older 11-band Gathers EQ I can send you for the cost of shipping that you can try out. If you're still having the problem, it's most likely the cable. If not, then the EQ/CD is bad.

fm

NOFX

Maybe this will be something else to do today. I want to go out and mess around with some of the cars anyway.

NOFX

So Eran ended up checking out the radio while I washed cars.

He took it apart and realized that there were two screws missing from the faceplate section. It looks like these screws were supposed to actually act as grounds as there's a metal plate behind each plastic section which the screws go through.

So he put some screws in... and it worked!

Since it's a JDM radio it doesn't get any US stations and he didn't have an iPod on him at the moment so he put a tape cassette in.

The DA code came back and then the tape got stuck.

So he had to take the face back off to remove the tape (he got it to auto eject).

But now it's still doing the DA code thing.

No multimeter here either. Maybe we'll try tomorrow at a friend's shop.

But we're going to try a JVC tape deck now. Just need to make a harness for it.

Also found an old Alpine today that I REALLY like, but I don't think my friend will sell it to me. Very cool though!

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

have you checked to make sure that the speaker wires are not grounding out?


a sure way to test if its something wrong with the car wiring is to bench test it with a known good power source and speaker.



power it up from a converter and hook up a speaker to each channel to see if it works.

if it works on the bench and not in the car then the car is the issue.

another way is to disconnect speakers one by one

fungus mungus

Argh!! So close. I never try the tape decks in those old decks because I *know* they're gonna eat tapes...that's just the nature of those old beasts. Actually, you can get the lowest stations (up to 90KHz), so you may be stuck with NPR stations, but it is radio.

So maybe it was the radio after all.
fm

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

shouldnt be there a switch to american fm stations? alot of older stereos had that feature.

its useless. but its JDM

fungus mungus

Meh, anything above 90KHz is useless to me. :p When I listen to radio, it's always on the left-end of the dial. Otherwise I'm listening to my iPod/iPhone.

fm

NOFX

No, this radio has no switch to go to US stations. I've never seen a JDM Gathers deck with anything like that. I hear Euro radios often have such a feature though.

I previously had another tape deck in there (OE '93 Accord deck), my friend who used to own the car had another deck in there and then we tried another one just a few minutes ago (the JVC mentioned above). All work in this car with no problem.

I know the driver door speaker doesn't always work, but that seems to be a separate issue.

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

some stereos are more sensitive to ground and speaker impedance.

it might have a protection circuit since it was designed to work with specific speakers you should check to see if your speakers are within range.

like some infinity speakers come with 2 ohm.

when the coil gets damaged the impedance changes, it might play on other steros cuz they are basic and designed to take abuse more than these limited edition ones.

NOFX

I HIGHLY doubt it has something to do with my one speaker or my speakers at all.

The deck had issues immediately after installation, but then had no problems at all for over a month. Just in the last few weeks has the problem started up again.

The speaker almost reliably does not work.

Even if I checked my speakers, there is nothing on the deck that pointed toward it needing certain speakers in order to operate properly so there's little way I would be able to figure out which speakers I would need to install which means the deck would be garbage to pretty much anyone who holds it.

Deetz

Like you, i have 3 times in the past bought older, original decks, only to have problems with them. Since then i have given up that part of old technology and gone with new stuff.

I will look into your problem tomorrow, and see if i can help though

raverx3m

iTrader: (1)

if its intermittent like that then its a possibility of a cold solder somewhere on the board, or a broken wire.

there were some kenwood decks that suffered frombad solder on the diodes( the screen would randomly go out). i ve fixed 5 of them by resoldering all diodes,

you probably should bench test it to troubleshoot it better.

NOFX

Thanks Deetz, you're awesome!

I really like the look of these period decks though. That's my big problem. I don't often see modern decks with designs I like.

We honestly usually have very few problems with our decks besides some of the used standard decks for US Civics. Usually they're still operational even. It's pretty rare for the issue to be so consistent that the deck is not usable.

We luckily have access to equipment at a local shop which belongs to family. This equipment can bench test pretty much any deck free of charge. We'll be talking to the owner tomorrow since he knows far more about radios

Deetz

^^ hmm, i have an old school flagship Alpine deck i would love for the cd player to work properly again....back in the day, it sold for something like $1300

NOFX

Send me info on the deck (what deck it is, for example) and I'll ask the owner if he knows how it might be repaired or if he could possibly repair it. Might be worth a try at least!

tlarimer

iTrader: (3)

My Gathers (Clarion) deck also shows DA on the screen, but it's only when I turn it to the CD changer controller, when it's just cassette or FM/AM the DA goes away.

It does not affect anything when DA shows up, the CD changer does it's thing, plays CD's. Just figured I would throw it out there, since I remembered when this thread started, then it happened to me, so I wanted to post my experience with the DA words on the deck.

fungus mungus

"dA" stands for "digital audio". I can't believe I didn't realize it before. As tlarimer points out, it's not an error. Just an indication that audio is being used from the CD changer port.

fm

tlarimer

iTrader: (3)

Well I'm glad I could help figure something out and that makes complete sense, I wondered why I wasn't having the same problems as NOFX.

Former User

She must be having a separate problem. I wonder whether its related to the iPod cord she has plugged into the rear of the unit?